拉丁美洲经济委员会-拉丁美洲和加勒比社会发展问题区域会议主持人特别会议的报告（英）-2025.8_14页_364kb

Summary of the Special Meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Social Development in Latin America and the Caribbean

Meeting Details

• Date and Place: Held virtually on 24 March 2025.
• Participants: Representatives from 18 member countries of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), including Barbados, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, and Panama. Associate members such as Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, and Montserrat also participated.

Agenda

1. Adoption of the agenda.
2. Review of the document Latin America and the Caribbean Looking Ahead to the Second World Summit for Social Development: Proposals for Inclusive Social Development.
3. Consideration of the region's key messages for the Second World Summit for Social Development.
4. Consideration and adoption of agreements.

Core Content and Main Points

• The meeting emphasized the need for inclusive social development and the importance of people-centered policies to address poverty, inequality, and social challenges.
• A comprehensive approach to care was highlighted, especially in the context of the care crisis and gender and equality gaps.
• The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was reaffirmed as a central framework, with the need to strengthen multilateral cooperation and global partnerships to achieve its goals.
• Social protection systems were identified as a priority, with the call to develop universal, sustainable, and resilient mechanisms.
• Labour inclusion policies, non-contributory pension systems, and comprehensive care policies were stressed as essential to meet the region's development challenges.
• The document prepared by ECLAC in coordination with Chile and Brazil was welcomed and endorsed as a key contribution to the upcoming Second World Summit for Social Development.

Key Messages from Delegations

• Brazil: Emphasized the need to strengthen regional participation in global initiatives and promote best practices in social protection and food security.
• Uruguay: Highlighted the importance of transforming power relations and adopting inter-agency social policies to reduce social inequalities.
• Costa Rica: Stressed the importance of aligning social and economic policies to ensure the solvency and sustainability of social policy budgets.
• Peru: Underlined the necessity of tackling the causes of poverty and addressing emerging issues that may be more pressing than those on the agenda.
• Ecuador: Reaffirmed support for the key messages and emphasized people-centred public policy, including non-contributory cash transfer programmes and child protection measures.
• Cuba: Addressed job informality, the care crisis, and climate change impacts, advocating for the inclusion of good practices from other countries in the document.
• Spain: Called for closing structural equality and gender gaps, and introduced an inequality indicator developed by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID).
• Panama: Highlighted the urgent need to meet the 2030 Agenda objectives, particularly for Indigenous populations and migrants in transit to the United States.

Agreements Adopted

1. Emphasize people and their rights as central to inclusive social development.
2. Reiterate the importance of multilateralism and cooperation in advancing the 2030 Agenda.
3. Reaffirm the implementation of the Regional Agenda for Inclusive Social Development.
4. Call for the strengthening of social policy institutions and comprehensive care policies.
5. Position the voice of Latin America and the Caribbean at the Second World Summit for Social Development in Qatar.
6. Welcome the document prepared by ECLAC with support from Chile and Brazil.
7. Request the Chair to present the document to co-facilitators Belgium and Morocco, as well as UN entities.
8. Thank Chile and Brazil for their leadership in preparing the document.
9. Request ECLAC to organize the sixth session of the Regional Conference in Brasilia in September 2025.
10. Acknowledge the role of the Secretariat in supporting the meeting and future preparations.

Closing Remarks

• The Executive Secretary of ECLAC thanked the delegations and invited them to participate in the upcoming sixth session of the Regional Conference.
• The Minister of Social Development and Family Affairs of Chile, as Chair, called on all member countries to support the region's messages at the Second World Summit for Social Development and to ensure decisive progress towards inclusive social development.

Next Steps

• Preparation for the sixth session of the Regional Conference, to be held in Brasilia from 2 to 4 September 2025.
• Continued collaboration and sharing of best practices to advance social development goals.
• Implementation of the agreed-upon messages and proposals at the Second World Summit for Social Development in November 2025.